The Home Office beckons – with a £5.75 sandwich

On Thursday, there was an important meeting at the Home Office to review the
criminal justice system, writes Bruce Anderson.

Sandwiches and chilled food group Uniq has agreed to a £113m takeover by rival Greencore

By Bruce Anderson

7:00PM GMT 10 Dec 2010

On Thursday, there was an important meeting at the Home Office to review the criminal justice system. It was chaired by Nick Herbert, the Minister of State for the Police and Justice. The other participants included Lord Justice Leveson, the Chairman of the Sentencing Council, plus very senior policemen and probation officers, the Chairman of the Parole Board, senior civil servants and other luminaries. They all met over lunch: one of the more important luncheons which the Home Office hosts in a working year.

In a previous era, even if it had not been during Advent and therefore appropriate for festivity, the Home Office would have sought to honour its guests. There would have been cutlery and napery: decent food, good wine and a butler to pour it.

Not any longer. The visitors were told that Home Office sandwiches would be graciously available, but not gratuitously. There would be a charge of £5.75 a head. The cuts are biting.

Why we shall always doff our cap to The Don

No Australian was tougher than Don Bradman. Not a natural athlete, he taught himself to play cricket with a single stump and a golf-ball. After leaving school at 14, he drove himself relentlessly. Throughout his career, there were bouts of ill-health and self-doubt, though fiercely concealed at the time. This was a man who tied himself to perfection’s chariot wheels: who would pay any price to be the finest batsman of all time. He was, with a Test batting average just short of 100, almost 40 runs higher than any other player. Towards the end of his life, the Don was asked how he would fare if he were batting today. “I’d average about 40,” came the reply. “Goodness, Sir Donald, are modern bowlers really that much better?”